I checked that we were all off the ship and a couple more times on our 5-10 minute walk to see that everyone was following along. We got to our meeting spot at 9:10 am and there was Patrizia to meet us. Unfortunately, we had somehow lost Edie along the way. John had no idea where she was, so Steve and Rick kindly went most of the way back to look for her. Luckily they found her and then we were able to get on our way. We were using two vehicles, rather than the expected 8 seater, because it was apparently too difficult to get into some of the narrow streets in the larger vehicle. And Patrizia introduced us to her husband, Alfredo, who was going to drive the second vehicle. Because his English wasn't great, and Patrizia was meant to be our guide, I suggested we rotate between the vehicles. Parking etc worked well because Patrizia was able to come with us, leaving Alfredo to look after both vehicles.
Our first stop was at the Catacombs of the Capuchins, after a drive through the crazy traffic and narrow streets. I had been looking for something different to see during the cruise, and this stood out, if you could stomach it! The Princess tour that came to the catacombs didn't take us to the other place I wanted to visit - Monreale Cathedral - hence the private tour.
Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos at the catacombs, so you will have to look them up on Wikipedia. But basically they are an area of underground tunnels, with the walls filled with open-sided coffins, or hollows in the tunnel walls, where mummified bodies lie or hang. The bodies are fully dressed in the clothing styles of their time, this starting from some time in the 16th Century, and becoming somewhat of a business enterprise for the Capuchin monks of the neighbouring church. At first they preserved only their own monks. But soon the rich people were paying to have their family members mummified and stored here too, in their best clothes. There were different sections for monks, men, women, children, professionals (doctors, lawyers etc). This practice continued until it was banned. The final body was mummified in 1920, and was the body of a 2 year old girl, Rosalie. Because of the humid conditions in the tunnels, the other bodies are no longer so well preserved, but Rosalie is in a special air-conditioned cabinet, on display, and is in excellent condition, as if she was sleeping. Very sad, and bizarre, and definitely not for everyone, but big tour groups were coming through as we left. It was good to be out in the fresh air after that!
Next we drove up into the hillside behind Palermo, to the nearby town of Monreale. We had a great view looking across to Palermo and to the sea beyond.
Then we went up to the Cathedral of Monreale, and had a brief look in a nearby shop, where the owner was creating mosaics. Then we went into the Cathedral itself, where a Sunday service was being held. The Cathedral was very beautiful, and is a mix of Norman (Christian) and Arab (Moslem) architecture and decoration. This is a feature of architecture in Sicily as, like many of the islands in the Mediterranean, it has had the influences of the many different cultures that took over at different times. Patrizia explained that pretty much all the cultures were accepted, until the French (under Napoleon Bonaparte) because they were looting everything to fund campaigns elsewhere.
We had a good look around the cloister area of the Cathedral, and got some great scenic photos. I ducked back into the Cathedral after this, because the service had finished and I could get a better view of the altar and its incredible decoration.
We drove back down to Palermo, and were shown some other parts of the city, and interesting buildings. By 1 pm we had parked and Patrizia and Alfredo were walking us through a very dingy area of the old town, towards their lovely, newly renovated apartment where Patrizia was going to cook us an authentic Sicilian lunch.
Patrizia also teaches cooking classes and is writing her own cookbook of Sicilian recipes. We were made to feel completely at home while Patrizia set to work. Alfredo offered us Sicilian wines (red or white). Patrizia had organised gluten free food for me for most of the 6 course lunch, too.
The first course was chickpea fritters, that I had on their own, but the others had inside some small bread rolls. They were simply chickpea and water, cooked like polenta, poured out, cooled, cut into blocks and then deep-fried. A couple of fritters were then salted and placed inside a bread roll.
The next course was Sicilian pizza (I ate more fritters), and the third course was a pasta and meat dish (special circular pasta for the others, and regular GF pasta for me) - delicious! The fourth course was a stewed vegetable dish with olives and I'm not actually sure what else - very flavoursome. Course six (for the others) was an amazing hot pastry dish, filled with ricotta cheese and sultanas. I was given a special gift-wrapped mandarin made of ground almonds. I sliced off the pieces to nibble at. Next we were served a small glass of a lovely dessert wine, and the others had almond cookies to dip into it while they also sipped the wine - I used my almond 'mandarin'. We all chose to have Italian coffee - served in tiny cups.
During all of this there was lots banter between Patrizia and Alfredo, and ourselves. It was a wonderful couple of hours. At 3 pm our 'tour' was finished, and Alfredo delivered John and Edie back to the port entrance, while Patrizia walked us back because we decided we needed the exercise. Well, that turned into a bit of an adventure too! As soon as we got a short way out into the street, the rain started bucketing down. All of us except Rick had showerproof jackets and umbrellas. We still got drenched, but kept going carefully, picking our way through flooded gutters and pedestrian crossings. It wasn't cold, and we weren't worried - it was an hilarious way to end the day. Back at the entrance to the port, we ran into Alfredo again, and there were hugs and kisses all around, and then we farewelled the wonderful couple, promising them we'd give them great reviews on Trip Advisor.
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